Remembering on September 11

I'm taking a break from Favorite Things Friday this week because I just can't seem to write something light and airy about a thing on this day. I feel like the longer it has been since September 11, the less we pause to remember the tragedy of that day. Certainly, it was one of the most defining times of our generation. Every single American alive on September 11, 2001 will forever be able to answer, in detail, when our children or grandchildren ask where we were. Working 6 blocks and living 2 blocks from the Capitol building certainly was intense, to say the least, not only on September 11 but in the months following.

My most heartening experience surrounding September 11 was a professional one. I left the world of politics for educational fundraising in November 2001 and one of my first projects was to work on a scholarship created in honor of an alumna who had been killed in the World Trade Center. Although I never had the opportunity to know the woman who died, I came to know her friends and family quite well.

The have inspired me more than they could ever imagine. Even in their profound grief, they asked what good they could do for others, how their daughter/friend's memory could live on for generations in support of others. Because of their generosity, each year a student receives help funding his or her education in the name of their loved one.

And so today I am remembering in a special way that young woman and her family and friends, even as I remember all who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.

Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!